Graphcore IPU-POD128, Build And Test Manual, Page: 61 / 113

CHAPTER
FOUR
IPU-POD
64
SERVER AND SWITCH CONFIGURATION
This chapter describes how to configure the server(s), and the network switches in each of your two IPU-POD
64
racks. You will need to carry out these steps for both IPU-POD
64
racks.
Note:
Ansible playbooks for the server installation and files for switch configuration can be provided on request:
please contact Graphcore support. These templates may need to be adapted to match any site-specific differences.
4.1 Server configuration
The server and POD configuration consists of the following main steps:
• Provide appropriate server hardware (
Hardware recommendations
), according to the approved server list
available from Graphcore.
–
This should include supported storage (
Storage configuration recommendations
) and supported memory
configurations (
Memory configuration recommendations
)
• Configure server BIOS appropriately (
BIOS configuration
)
• Install the appropriate OS and packages (
Operating system installation
)
• Setup default user accounts and permissions (
User accounts and groups
)
• Setup a DHCP server (
DHCP Service (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol)
)
• Setup a Syslog service (
Rsyslog service
)
• Setup an NTP service (
NTP service (Network Time Protocol)
)
• Final configuration: security and default folders (
Other configuration files and folders
)
4.1.1 Hardware recommendations
The IPU-POD
64
reference design uses a single PowerEdge R6525 server but up to four servers can be connected.
Contact Graphcore sales or refer to the list of approved servers for details of other supported server types. This
document describes the default server (PowerEdge R6525) installation only. Other servers may have different
installation requirements.
The recommended configuration of the Dell R6525 is as follows:
• Dell R6525 containing dual AMD EPYC 7742 processors
• 16x 32GbE RDIMM PC4-25600 ECC registered dual-rank X4 1.2v
• 2x 480GbE SSD-SATA 6Gbps 2.5 inch hot-swap
• 7x 1TB NVME SSD PCIe 4x 3.1
• Dual port Gigabit BASE-T PCIe
Version: latest (2021-11-25) 57